City Hall Prepares for Christmas

One of the first huge signs of the approaching holiday season. City crews spent the morning, setting the annual Christmas tree into the lawn of City Hall.

There are few objects in the world that are this -- this -- iconic.

''Christmas tree."

''Christmas tree."

''Christmas tree."

Actually, it's a 70-foot Cook pine. But none of these glowing faces care about that.

They just know this is the first sign of Santa!

''It brings everything more to life when the children come and their eyes are open and their ooing and ahhing and just full of love for the holiday season. It makes it all worth it," said Joan Manke with the City and County of Honolulu.

The tree planting marks the 23rd year of the Honolulu City Lights Holiday Celebration.

Children from a nearby preschool, sat in amazment as workers carefully lowered it into a five-foot hole.

''When you sever the tree from the main trunk, that's the main water source," said Stan Oka of City Urban Forestry. "We don't have any watering container on the bottom. We'll water it, occassionally. But, the tree actually starts to dry from here to Christmas."

From here, crews will secure it with cables. Then, let the decorating begin.

"It's a beautiful day to be planting a tree at City Hall," said Oka. "A lot of city workers, employees, a lot of great sponsors to bring this alive every year."

In 2015, the Federal government passed the Every Student Succeeds Act, allowing states to limit the amount of time that students take standardized tests. A similar bill is traveling through the Hawaii legislature.

In 2015, the Federal government passed the Every Student Succeeds Act, allowing states to limit the amount of time that students take standardized tests. A similar bill is traveling through the Hawaii legislature.